Take our voter guide for a spin

Dear readers,

Ballots start going out Monday for the Nov. 6 mid-term elections and we want you to know about the work we at The Indy are doing to help inform your choices.

We have a dedicated election section with stories on statewide, state legislative, and Congressional races, plus the ballot measures. We have a weekly podcast, The Indycator, our collaboration with the great people at KGNU independent community radio.  (This week, KGNU’s Maeve Conran talks with our columnist Mike Littwin about the gubernatorial debates.) And, let’s not forget Ask The Indy, our new feature where you help shape our election coverage.

But today, we’re geeking out over our Voter Guide. It went live a few days ago and is a great online tool to prepare you to fill out your real ballot.  The guide, we are proud to say, is a partnership with the League of Women Voters of Colorado, which has been providing nonpartisan information to voters since long before The Indy came to be.

Using the guide could not be easier. Go the page. Put in your address — we do not store any personal information  — and voilà, your sample ballot appears. I live in Fort Collins, so mine, for example, shows 29 races, from the governor’s race to the 2nd Congressional District to the Larimer County Assessor’s race and, of course, all the ballot measures.

Using this tool allows you to:

• Read and compare the candidates’ bios and their responses to a short questionnaire that we developed together with the League. Many candidates answered, others did not, but the responses are still coming in (along with the headshots) because apparently some politicians are like some reporters, always pushing deadline.
• Study the ballot measures. I very much like this part of the guide. Yes, you have your blue books, but the League is masterful at taking dense, complex measures and translating them into plain English. Each ballot measure page has an explanation, background, arguments for and against, and links to The Indy’s related coverage.
• Create what is essentially a souped-up sample ballot. You fill it out along the way and when you get your actual ballot you’ll have a ready-to-go-reference.

With only 24 days to Election Day, we urge you to give the Voter Guide a spin. Share the link with your friends. And if you appreciate the service, please consider a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit newsroom. Although the guide, like the journalism on our site, is free to readers, it’s not free for us to produce. We need your help providing this kind of information at a time when Colorado sorely needs it.

As always, we thank you for your support. We also thank the good women of the League of Women Voters, whom it has been a joy to work with.

Enjoy your weekend!

Tina Griego, managing editor